Even a Scoundrel Gets Tired

16 – Duel (1)

The sound signifying the start of the duel had barely faded

when the Princess began to weave her magic with the staff.

4th Circle Magic『Ice Lance』

Ice shards of a size that chills one to the very bone

came hurtling toward me.

I swiftly rolled to evade them,

conjuring a throwing dagger in my hand and launching it, but

She had already deployed a Mana Shield, as if expecting it.

*Ting!*

The sound of steel meeting steel rang out as my dagger

was deflected without purchase, and beneath her, flames flickered to life.

Fourth Circle Magic, *Fire Field*.

Flames began to surge within a five-meter radius of her.

Perhaps she judged that so long as she prevented close combat,

she could defeat me.

Soon after, another spell hurtled toward me.

The Princess was one of the Academy’s top students.

While my strength languished at the very bottom,

making her someone I couldn’t possibly overcome by force alone.

To block the relentless barrage of magic,

I conjured a massive wall of stone before me.

The wall shattered the instant magic struck it, but

it was more than enough to negate the force.

I continued to move, blocking the larger spells,

evading or weathering the smaller ones.

Naturally, creation and evasion taking place simultaneously,

I was bound to be the first to tire.

As if enraged by my imperviousness, the Princess

unleashed increasingly dangerous spells,

and I, with a growing sense of dread, narrowly

avoided them, time and again.

“…How long will you pathetically evade?”

“Hah…hah…Evading is quite the ordeal.”

“Are you…are you truly a child of the Reinhardt Dukedom?

I thought if I toyed with you like this, you might feel some shame,

but it seems I miscalculated.”

“You possess not a shred of noble pride, do you?

I’m bored now. You won’t evade this one.”

With those words, the Princess’s hair began to undulate.

Soon, strands of golden light crackled from her head,

cascading over her shoulders, down her arms, past her elbows, and concentrating into her hands,

where they coalesced into the shape of a sphere.

Fifth Circle Magic, *Pulse Shock*.

Then, it rushed toward me with terrifying speed,

and a single thought flashed through my mind.

‘I’ll have to sacrifice my left arm.’

Saying so, I conjured three steel pellets into my left hand

and extended it toward the electric orb rushing at my head.

It promptly began to be drawn into my hand,

and along with it, an excruciating agony originating from my left hand

jolted me back to awareness.

Do you know perhaps?

That the best way to respond to electrocution is

to eliminate the source of the current.

I fashioned a knife with a rubber grip in my right hand

and severed my left arm.

“W…what?!”

“…Did I show you something unpleasant?”

I spoke thus and regenerated my left arm,

the princess and the surrounding students staring at me, dumbfounded.

“Do you have no regard for your own body?”

“I’d rather not die coddling it.”

“…So you cherish yourself so much, yet inflict

such things on others?”

There it is again.

What is the princess trying to say to me?

She’s already designated me as a villain in her mind,

fixated on that stereotype as she looks at me.

You don’t know, do you?

The grief of a loved one’s death.

The pain of people turning away simply because you lack talent.

The anger born of self-reproach so intense you want to kill yourself.

The loneliness of being unwelcome by anyone.

You’ve experienced none of these, haven’t you, being lauded by all,

occupying a position where you’re loved by everyone.

What do you know about me to talk so carelessly?

Irritation welled up.

And I resolved then.

To grant this girl, who knows nothing of the world,

who’s lived a life of constant bliss,

beloved by all,

just a brief moment of a twisted expression,

only for today, I would bring it forth.

*

Even with that resolve, at a glance,

the state of the match appeared unchanged.

The Princess, as was usual, assaulted me,

and I was solely occupied with blocking and dodging.

The cadets watching this anticipated it.

They busied themselves with arguing,

claiming my victory last time was mere coincidence.

When Jennison seemed visibly exhausted,

the Princess initiated the conversation.

“You. I know what you’re aiming for, so give up.”

“…?”

“This being drawn on the ground… a magic circle, isn’t it?”

“…!”

She puffed herself up, as if she had guessed correctly,

and spoke mockingly at Jennison’s surprised expression.

“Did you think I was a fool and would fall for the same trick twice?

“….”

“It’s almost a complete ‘Tracking’ magic circle, isn’t it unfortunate?

It would be complete if you only drew the area where I stand.”

“I will not move from this spot.”

“I told you that you had no chance of winning.”

The Princess, seeing Jennison’s persistent silence,

spoke as if bestowing a final mercy.

“This is your last chance. Apologize now to the cadets

you’ve tormented.”

“Then at least I will end this without causing any pain.”

The Princess observed his expression,

but there was something strange in her demeanor.

His expression hadn’t changed at all.

No, it almost looked like he was smiling.

After a long silence, he finally spoke.

“The Princess is right. This magic circle is incomplete.

No matter what I throw, it will never reach the Princess.”

“It’s fortunate you realize that. Then immediately…”

“But, Princess, may I ask you a question?”

“…? Well, there’s no harm in listening.”

“Do you know what happens if you keep pouring mana into an unfinished magic circle?”

The Princess wore a face of incomprehension.

“Are you asking the obvious? Naturally, the magic power will lose its path

and explode…”

“Yes, exactly that.”

The moment he finished speaking, he began to pump in a staggering amount of mana.

The princess, seeing this, also deployed an offensive spell, but

Jennison was faster at channeling his mana, and

a tremendous explosion followed.

*KWA-THOOM*

*

‘What in the blazes?!’

That was the thought that flashed through the princess’s mind.

Even for someone completely unhinged, to cause such an explosion in a confined space, one warded with barriers…

The princess hurriedly erected a shield, but the force of the blast was simply immense.

Just blocking the impact consumed a significant amount of mana.

Only after layering shield upon shield upon shield was she able to reliably withstand the explosion, and

soon, a thick, acrid smoke filled the arena.

‘Is this some newfangled suicide method? If he’s aiming for a draw, how pathetic.’

Just as she was thinking that, preparing to descend from the platform,

something came flying from behind her.

Reacting instinctively, the princess whirled around,

judging it to be an attack from Jennison.

How he had survived this explosion unscathed was beside the point.

The fact was, he was alive, and the projectile—evidence of it—was hurtling toward her.

With swift reflexes, she deployed magic, successfully intercepting the projectile before it reached her face, and

instantly, the projectile burst, releasing a gas.

*POOF*

‘Surely…not poison?!’

Thinking this, she hurriedly covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve, but

it wasn’t a poisonous gas.

“Urgh?! Cough…hack!!”

“How fares the princess? This is a little something I specially prepared—a tear gas grenade.”

“W…what?! T…tear…hack!!”

“Such a lovely face… utterly ruined.”

Tear gas (催淚彈):

A projectile containing a substance that irritates the tear ducts, causing one to cry.

Jennison, right before the explosion,

had created a massive bunker around himself, managing to preserve his body, and

taking advantage of the princess’s distraction while she was engulfed in smoke, had crafted and launched the tear gas grenade.

Of course, tear gas being a foreign concept in this world, the princess was left swimming in tears, and

Jennison didn’t miss the opportunity.

He immediately launched another projectile similar in shape to the tear gas grenade, and

the princess, having tasted the bitter effects of the tear gas, chose to evade rather than intercept or block.

The projectile meant for her fell short, detonating before it could reach her form.

An immense cloud of smoke billowed forth.

One entire flank of the training ground vanished in the haze.

While the Princess conjured a wind magic spell to clear her vision,

Jenison sprinted towards his severed arm.

The severed limb still clutched the metal orbs.

He extracted all three and

reconfigured them with his magi-tech.

He hurled another smokescreen toward the Princess – who had already dispelled the smoke nearest her –

then tossed one of the metal orbs in his hand.

The Princess elected to evade, and the orb sailed past her.

Jenison immediately followed, throwing the remaining two orbs,

both of which she effortlessly dodged.

As she should have.

Until the orbs that had passed her suddenly detonated.

“Imbue [Combustion]”

“Eek!”

Caught off guard by the sudden explosions flanking her,

the Princess hastily retreated, spotting Jenison charging towards her.

Then,

something halted her backward momentum.

An enormous steel wall, previously unseen.

“Imbue [Amplification, Target: Size]”

The Princess remembered the first orb Jenison had thrown,

and a look of dismay crossed her face as she tried to sidestep,

but already his daggers – which he carried from earlier – were embedded on either side of her.

And the way he slowly walked towards her, she looked as if to be met by a demon

The demon approached at a snail’s pace, his face a haunting blank slate before he finally spoke

“..Did you enjoy playing the crusader?”